OSU science club cooks up donations for pantry

Members of Oregon State University's Food and Fermentation Science Club know how to have fun — they regularly participate in beer-brewing, cheese-making and bread-baking events.

Raju Woodward

CORVALLIS — Members of Oregon State University's Food and Fermentation Science Club know how to have fun — they regularly participate in beer-brewing, cheese-making and bread-baking events.

Monday afternoon, 17 members met in the pilot plant at Wiegand Hall to work on another yummy project, this time for charity.

They made red raspberry and dark sweet cherry jellies that will be donated to the OSU Emergency Pantry, which works with the Oregon Food Bank.

Club Vice President Melissa Sales, a senior in food science, said the club is trying to become more involved in the community. Last month, it held a food drive that collected about six boxes worth of donated food.

But Monday's jelly-making session was the first time club members combined their interests and expertise to make food for charity.

Besides the fact that it is relatively easy and inexpensive to make, Sales said there was another reason club officers decided to make jelly for the OSU Emergency Food Pantry.

"I've volunteered with the food pantry on campus before," Sales said. "Jelly always seemed to be something it ran short of every time."

Kerr Concentrates of Salem donated a gallon each of red raspberry and dark sweet cherry fruit juice to the club, and Campanga of Lebanon donated hundreds of eight-ounce jars.

Jeff Clawson, who manages the pilot plant and helps the students with their projects, said enough fruit juice was donated to make about 200 pounds of jelly — enough to fill about 400 jars.

"This is some great-smelling jelly," Clawson said, as he sniffed the air at the plant. "The people that receive this jelly are going to love it."

Marlin Mueller III, a senior in food science, was participating in his second project with the Food and Fermentation Science Club. He recently switched his major from engineering and said he's enjoying applying science in new ways.

"One of the benefits of this club is that the science that is used is very applicable to everyday life," Mueller said. "Sometimes it was hard to make those kind of connections when I was an engineering major."

Club President Emily Del Bel, a junior in food science and technology, said if Monday's effort is a success, the club will try to hold similar events more often.

"We really want to incorporate community service into the club," Del Bel said. "We all know how to (do) this stuff and are interested in it. So why not help those in need?"

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